The tour got off to the worst
possible start when, following the team announcement, new manager Stanley
Jayasinghe announced his disappointment with the chosen tour party. He said
he would be withdrawing but was persuaded to proceed by Sports Minister Nanda
Mathew. However, it obviously causedfriction with the squad.

At the end of the tour Mr
Nanda released the manager's tour report to the press, in which Jayasinghe
complained about the conduct of skipper Ranatunga and a lack of support from
his assistant manager.Of Ranatunga's
captaincy, the manager's report said "His conduct on the field in
relation to umpires was questionable and at times embarrassing". A
commission of enquiry confirmed that Ranatunga was guilty of misconduct and
that Paranathala had not supported his manager properly. A key incident was
when Dhammika's finger was broken, the manager wanted to send him home, but
Arjuna later joined by the assistant manager opposed this action. However,
with the support of the President of the Board and doctors' reports, Jayasinghe
insisted it was done. The assistant manager was found guilty of misconduct in
the report by the one-man fact-finding committee Vimal Wickremasuriya.Paranathala subsequently resigned as a
selector but remained chairman of the Board's Umpires' Committee.

Jayantha Paranathala played for Sri Lanka Police Sports Club and
Burgher Recreation CC. He also represented Sri Lanka in several unofficial
test matches, as an opening bowler and left-handed middle order batsman
during the 1970s under the captaincy of Anura Tennekoon. He was Chairman of
the Umpires Committee and an Executive Committee member of the Sri Lankan
Board.

He and Jayasinghe were appointed as managers on 7 December.

Jayasinghe told the Cricket Board on 7 January that he was no
longer available but Minister Nanda Mathew insisted he should go on the tour.

Selectors

M H Tissera (chairman),
J Paranathala, A Polonowita, M M Yusuf.

Selection

UnavailableRanjan Madugalle retired in mid-1990 and
did not play in the new first-class domestic tournament.

The Sri Lankans got back from
the Asia Cup tournament in Calcutta on
Saturday 5 January and would have only a week at home before the New Zealand
tour.Asoka de Silva had by now
recovered from a fracture to his hand.

The team left Katunayake Airport,
Colombo, for Singapore on Sunday 13 January.
After an 11-hour flight from Singapore,
they reached Wellington
on the afternoon of Monday 14 January. Graham Dowling, Chief Executive of the
New Zealand Cricket Council was present to meet them but there were no crowds
of expatriate supporters.

U C Hathurasinghe
(Moors) 22, replaced Dhammika Ranatunga, who broke a finger in the first
match of the tour and was to be sent home. Jayasinghe relented when the tour
committee urged him not to see the decision through but then changed his
mind.

Hathurasinghe flew to Dunedin on 4
February.He got into the Test side
after Mahanama fractured a finger fielding in the first Test and also had to
return home early. Mahanama flew home on 12 February despite team members'
attempts to keep him back. Brendon Kuruppu was sent to replace Mahanama.

G P Wickremasinghe
(SSC), 26, also joined the tour party but he did not play.